My Holistic Skin Care Routine
My Background Story
My skin didn’t always look like this.
If you’ve read my story, then you know that I had several health issues stemming from an undiagnosed autoimmune condition. One of the symptoms I painfully dealt with for years was head-to-toe weeping eczema and psoriasis. After getting my condition under control (that’s a long story) and healing, I was not shocked to see that my face had aged dramatically and my complexion was very much a wreck.
My own personal healing journey (and then later my schooling) has taught me the importance of proper detoxification strategies and the role that toxins play in the development of disease. If I was going to use anything on my skin, I needed assurance that the loads of chemicals found in most skincare lines would not be present. I also needed something that would work to radically reverse the damage and aging that had occurred in my skin.
A major source of toxicity for women are found in the products we use on our skin. This includes skincare, creams, perfumes, makeup products and even hair products.
THESE PRODUCTS OFTEN HAVE CHEMICALS THAT ARE:
Carcinogenic: capable of causing cancer
Obesogenic: capable of contributing obesity, weight gain due to a toxic burden can be one of the most frustrating, proper detox is the only way to get fat to budge if this is the issue
Endocrine disruptors: chemicals that interfere with the body’s normal endocrine function.
You’d be surprised that even the expensive, high-end skincare lines use these nasty chemicals. When these types of chemicals are applied to the skin, they quickly get absorbed into the blood stream and bypass the liver (one of its many tasks is to breakdown the chemicals into more benign compounds) wreaking havoc on our complex hormonal system. A few uses of something is nothing our bodies can’t handle, but months, years or a lifetime of use can really cause some serious damage that, even with proper therapies, may never be fully reversed.
Besides affecting our health these chemicals will actually accelerate aging! You probably won’t suspect your aging face could be from your daily facial routine that initially gave you such good results.
The Perfect Holistic Skincare Line: Osmosis
One day, while listening to one of my favorite podcasts, I heard Dr. Ben Johnson, Osmosis’ founder and formulator, speak about how Osmosis works to heal and renew the skin without the use of harsh chemicals. The science all made sense, it promised impressive results.
I decided to experiment and try the MD line for myself. Initially, I was impressed with the packaging, the products felt good on my sensitive skin and I enjoyed the lovely natural scents.
Just weeks after using the products, I saw changes in my skin. My complexion was brighter, smoother, my pores were shrinking.
After several months of use scars were either gone or barely there, my dry skin had normalized to healthy, supple skin. The hyper-pigmented and sun-damaged areas on my face had faded. My skin looked better than it had in my 20’s! We also saw great changes in the skin of staff members. After such good results for myself and my staff, we decided our clients needed to have access to this ground-breaking skincare line.
Over a year later, I continue to see my complexion improve. The aging I once had seen on my face is now gone. I repeatedly see more mature skin types in clients, friends, and family (they are all hooked) improve.
Osmosis truly is the ULTIMATE in holistic skincare. If this is your first-time hearing of it, click here for more information.
What Makes Osmosis So Different?
While nothing is a magical pill, I believe Osmosis gives aging skin and chronic skin conditions the most hope. We carry the professional MD line. It gives the skin the tools it needs to heal and restores the factors our skin loses as we age. I could get into the science of Osmosis, but that is for another post. Besides, it may bore some of you. The following is just a short list of the benefits of Osmosis.
Strengthens the immune system. Yes! Your skin has its own immune system and it is vital to keeping it healthy and beautiful. When it begins to get faulty, the skin easily ages and broken capillaries, skin tags, moles, and other abnormalities appear.
Increases skin circulation. The use of liposomal niacinamide and 1,3 beta glucan-recruited macrophages increases blood flow and new blood vessel growth in the skin for increased nutrition to the skin.
Improves scar remodeling. Scars are the result of wound repair interruption. Osmosis’ Patented Zinc Finger Technology jumpstarts the repair process, creating remarkable improvements in new and old scars.
Repairs cellular DNA. As we age, the DNA in our cells breakdown. Osmosis’ Zinc Finger Technology provides precursors of the zinc fingers to kick start the cell’s repair systems
Re-establishes the skin barrier. Our skin has a protective lipid barrier, it can be damaged overtime through the use of harsh products and treatments. Osmosis’ non-inflammatory approach and technology repairs that barrier.
Restores antioxidant levels. Antioxidants prevent protein oxidation from occurring in the skin.
Activates collagen. Collagen is the glue that holds our skin together. As we age, we lose collagen production resulting in sagging. Osmosis uses liposomal delivered retinaldehyde to stimulate 1,000 times more collagen than retinol.
My Personal Routine
Nowadays, I get a lot of compliments on my skin. I wanted to share with you my own personal Osmosis skincare regimen.
I typically do my routine both in the morning and evening. I am not perfect, so sometimes I miss that evening treatment! I used to be tied to my evening wash so my skin could breathe when I used other makeup brands, but with Osmosis Colour, the makeup feels like my own skin, so I don’t sweat it if I don’t get it in every day.
My routine!
AM Routine
Step One: Cleanse, a gentle cleanser that removes dirt and toxins from the skin using a kiwi/kumquat blend instead of harsh ingredients like sodium lauryl sulfate. I love that osmosis uses essential oils in their products. This one is scented with peppermint EO, a favorite of mine!
Step Two: Correct Serum: A potent vitamin A serum that increases cellular turnover to reduce the signs of aging.
Step Three: Catalyst AC-11 Serum: A patented DNA repair and Vitamin C serum that instantly brightens and tightens the complexion. With extended use, it reverses signs of aging, decreases scar tissue, heals broken capillaries, normalizes pigment, and boosts collagen and elastin.
Step Four: Clear Plus Activating Hydration Mist (to drive serums deep into the skin): A peptide and vitamin enriched frequency water that enhances product penetration.
PM Routine
Step One: Cleanse to remove makeup. If needed, I use Melt Away Gelee to gently remove eye makeup.
Step Two: Cleanse to remove skin impurities.
Step Three: Correct Serum
Step Four: Stemfactor Serum. An adult stem cell derived serum provides 150+ growth factors to gently restore repair processes and stimulate new cells to build collagen and elastin, heal hyperpigmentation and reverse aging.
Step Five: Clear Plus Activating Hydration Mist
Step Six: Quench. An intense, quick-absorbing moisturizer that helps to correct weak lipid barrier (a naturally occurring fat layer on the skin that protects it from wear and tear and locks in moisture) This stuff is like silk on your skin and locks in moisture all day long.
Masks I am Using Right Now
Osmosis offers several specialty masks dramatically enhance results. I love that I can change the masks I am doing depending on the season and challenges my skin may be facing. I typically do a mask 2-3 times per week.
Polish: A cranberry scented skin firming antioxidant mask that gently exfoliates dead skin cells without scrubbing or inflammation. Leaves my skin glowing and fresh!
Tropical Mango: This richly moisturizing mask (a must for dry winter skin) is made of a combination of fruit and nut oils that nourish, hydrate and restore the skin’s lipid barrier. Some of these include: Mango butter, Amazonian fruit butter, Sea Buckthorn oil, and Jojoba oil. Best of all, it smells like mango!